CCXXIII. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)
"Of all my children, this is the one that cost me the worst birth-pangs, the one that brought me the most sorrows." -- LvB on his deathbed
Leonore vs. Fidelio
Beethoven produced three versions of this, his only opera:
- The original 1805 version (Leonore);
- The revised and shortened version of 1806 (Leonore); and
- The drastically revised version of 1814 (Fidelio)
John Eliot Gardiner (Boulanger student) on Leonore:
"What strikes me so forcibly about Leonore in its first incarnation is its power and purity of emotion ... not even the most perfect subsequent retouching in Fidelio can compensate for the loss of that immediacy of expression. Portraits of both hero and heroine, so poignantly drawn in 1805, are smudged in 1814 in the interest of universalism."
David Cairns on Fidelio:
"No wonder it obsessed him. The struggle to master the craft of writing for the stage was hard, but harder still was the struggle to shape the feelings that the subject stirred in him ... Beethoven had to labour at it for years and during that time submit to an ordeal comparable, on the creative plane, to that of Leonore and Florestan in the opera. It could not be achieved less dearly; and it could not be like other operas, but must be sui generis, unclassifiable. Once we accept this, the problems of Fidelio disappear."
**
Perhaps you are familiar with the name of Emanuel Schikaneder from Miloš Forman's 1984 film Amadeus. He wrote the libretto and produced Mozart's The Magic Flute (1791), just months before Mozart's death.
Perhaps you are familiar with the name of Emanuel Schikaneder from Miloš Forman's 1984 film Amadeus. He wrote the libretto and produced Mozart's The Magic Flute (1791), just months before Mozart's death.
Schikaneder met Beethoven in Vienna in 1803 and wanted him to write an opera on his libretto, Vestas Feuer (The Vestal Flame).
Beethoven wrote music for Scene 1 and then abandoned the project.
In a letter to Friedrich Rochlitz dated January 4, 1804, Beethoven writes:
"I have finally broken with Schikaneder, whose empire has really been entirely eclipsed by the light of the brilliant and attractive French operas. I have quickly had an old French libretto adapted and am now beginning to work on it."
Thus the seeds were planted which would produce Leonore, later known as Fidelio.
Rochlitz had sent Beethoven a libretto he had written, but Beethoven rejected it. He expressed his dislike of the subject matter of most of Mozart's operas, preferring the new French operas by composers such as Luigi Cherubini, who Beethoven practically worshipped.
He fixated on a text by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly -- Léonore, ou l'amour conjugal. Beethoven was entranced by the heroic last-minute rescue (typical of many French operas of the time), but more so by the anti-tyrannical views of Leonore and Florestan's suffering and isolation in the dungeon, to which Beethoven could definitely relate:
"Yesterday and today I have been very ill; I have suffered fearfully from headache. May heaven rid me of it -- one infirmity is enough for me. If you can, send me Bahrd's translation of Tacitus. More another time; I feel so ill that I can only write a few lines ... (Beethoven to his friend Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein, June 13, 1807)
Act I
The Four Overtures
- Leonore I was written in 1805 and destined for a performance in Prague in 1807 which never occurred. It wasn't found until after Beethoven's death;
- Leonore II was written for the 1805 premiere, a week after Napoleon's troups had invaded Vienna. Problems with the woodwind parts led Beethoven to rewrite it as
- Leonore III. More symphony than overture, this piece is often placed in Act II of Fidelio, before the Finale. [not in the above performance, however.]
- The first page of the Fidelio overture is reproduced here:
No. 1 (Duetto)
Right off the bat, a delightfully light duet between two minor characters, Jaquino and Marcellina. He wants her, but she has her eye on the disguised woman-as-a-man Fidelio (Leonore) ...
No. 2 (Aria)
Beginning in C Minor, Marcellina pines for Fidelio. Beethoven moves to C Major when she sings Die Hoffnung schon erfüllt die Brust (hope fills my heart):
No. 3 (Quartet)
Marcellina, Leonore, Rocco and Joquino.
With the utmost simplicity, Marcellina begins:
With the utmost simplicity, Marcellina begins:
Mir ist so wunderbar / Es engt das Herz mir ein
A wondrous feeling fills me / and grips my very heart
No. 4 (Aria)
Rocco informs his daughter that "dining on love alone won't stop you from feeling hungry" (Wer bei Tisch nur Liebe findet / Wird nach Tische hungrig sein)
No. 5 (Trio)
Rocco, Leonore and Marcellina each express themselves in turn before making a trio:
No. 6 (March)
The entrance of the evil Pizarro:
No. 7 (Aria with Chorus)
Pizarro plans his murder; the chorus of guards reacts ...
No. 8 (Duet)
Pizarro tries to bribe Rocco to commit the murder for him:
No. 9 (Recitative and Aria)
Leonore is pissed.
Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?
Monster! Where are you hastening?
No. 10 (Finale)
Rocco allows the prisoners some open air. (They play basketball in this production!)
O welche Lust
Oh what joy
Oh what joy
Act II
No. 11 (Introduction and Aria)
Florestan is chained and barely alive. Dark F Minor, modulating briefly before moving to the Relative Major -- A-Flat ...
Gott! Welch Dunkel hier! O grauenvolle Stille!
Od ist es um mich her. Nichts lebet außer mir.
O schwere Prüfung! Doch gerecht is Gottes Wille!
Ich murre nicht! Das Maß der Leiden steht bei Dir.
O God! how dark it is! how terrible this silence!
Here in this void no living thing comes near.
O cruel ordeal! But God's will is just.
I'll not complain; for He has decreed the measure of my suffering.
Od ist es um mich her. Nichts lebet außer mir.
O schwere Prüfung! Doch gerecht is Gottes Wille!
Ich murre nicht! Das Maß der Leiden steht bei Dir.
O God! how dark it is! how terrible this silence!
Here in this void no living thing comes near.
O cruel ordeal! But God's will is just.
I'll not complain; for He has decreed the measure of my suffering.
No. 12 (Melodrama and Duet)
Leonre and Rocco finally reach the tortured prisoner. Beethoven paints between their dialogue:
No. 13 (Trio)
Rocco and Leonore give the prisoner some bread and water. Leonore hopes; Rocco sings of duty and hatred of cruelty, and Florestan is thankful for his jailers' kindness:
LENORE
Wie heftig pochet dieses Herz / Es wogt in Freud und scharfem Schmerz / Die hehre, bange Stunde winkt / Die Tod mir oder Rettung bringt
Wie heftig pochet dieses Herz / Es wogt in Freud und scharfem Schmerz / Die hehre, bange Stunde winkt / Die Tod mir oder Rettung bringt
My heart is throbbing furiously / with joy and bitter pain / The dread moment draws near / which brings my death or his salvation
ROCCO
Ich tu, was meine Pflicht gebeut / Doch haß ich alle Grausamkeit
ROCCO
Ich tu, was meine Pflicht gebeut / Doch haß ich alle Grausamkeit
I carry out my duty / but detest all cruelty
FLORESTAN
Bewegt seh ich den Jüngling hier / Und Rührung zeigt auch dieser Mann / O Gott, Du sendest Hoffnung mir, Daß ich sie noch gewinnen kann
FLORESTAN
Bewegt seh ich den Jüngling hier / Und Rührung zeigt auch dieser Mann / O Gott, Du sendest Hoffnung mir, Daß ich sie noch gewinnen kann
I see this youth is deeply moved / and the man too shows emotion / O God, you send me hope / may be become reality
In a quartet worthy of Mozart, the plot is brought to a feverish pitch, when Leonore points her gun (in this production) at Pizarro, as Rocco and Florestan join in with dramatic explosion. (Leonore has to hit a high B-Flat!):
LEONORE
Der Tod sei dir geschworen / Für deine Mörderlust / (sheltering her husband) Töt erst sein!
May death befall you / for your murderous intent / First kill his wife!
PIZARRO
Wahnsinniger! / Er soll bestrafet sein! / Sein Weib?
PIZARRO
Wahnsinniger! / Er soll bestrafet sein! / Sein Weib?
Are you mad? / He shall be punished for this! / His wife?
ROCCO (to Leonore)
Halt ein! / Sein Weib?
ROCCO (to Leonore)
Halt ein! / Sein Weib?
Stand back! / His wife?
FLORESTAN
O mein Gott! / Mein Weib?
O mein Gott! / Mein Weib?
O God! / My wife?
No. 15 (Duet)
Florestan and Leonore are finally united:
LEONORE
O namenlose Freude!
Mein Mann an meiner Brust!
LEONORE
O namenlose Freude!
Mein Mann an meiner Brust!
O joy beyond expressing!
My husband in my arms!
FLORESTAN
O namenlose Freude!
An Leonorens Brust!
My husband in my arms!
FLORESTAN
O namenlose Freude!
An Leonorens Brust!
O joy beyond expressing!
Leonore in my arms!
BOTH
Nach unnennbarem Leide
So übergroße Lust!
Leonore in my arms!
BOTH
Nach unnennbarem Leide
So übergroße Lust!
After untold sorrows
such overwhelming joy!
such overwhelming joy!
[traditionally Leonore III is usually placed here]
No. 16 (Finale)
In glorious C Major, Beethoven opens with a I-V 33-bar orchestral burst of joy and happiness. The four soloists are joined by the Chorus of Prisoners:
Heil sei dem Tag / Heil sei der Stunde / Die lang ersehnt, doch unvermeint / Gerechtigkeit mit Huld im Bunde / Vor unsres Grabes Tor erscheint!
Hail to the day / hail to the hour / so long awaited and so long denied / when Justice with mercy / has appeared before the gate to our grave!
and the final glorious two pages:
LENORE
Florestan ist wieder mein!
LENORE
Florestan ist wieder mein!
Florestan is mine again!
MARCELLINA, FLORESTAN, JAQUINO, FERNANDO, ROCCO and the CHORUS:
MARCELLINA, FLORESTAN, JAQUINO, FERNANDO, ROCCO and the CHORUS:
Nie wird es zu hoch besungen / Retterin des Getten sein
Never can we over-praise / a wife who saves her husband
**
IMHO, this production is a wonderful example of how a centuries-old opera can be updated to include a videographer, a basketball hoop, ICU medical equipment, and best of all simple, modern costumes.
Praise to all the soloists, especially Stagg (Leonore), Spyres (Florestan, a gorgeous tenor) and Dohmen (Rocco, an exceptional bass) ...
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